3D Realms started work on a game called Prey almost a decade ago. However unlike Duke Nukem forever, this game has been brought back to life by Human Head Studios and is expected to hit store shelves this summer. I recently grabed a copy of the Prey demo and gave it a whirl. Will Prey offer us anything new? Or does it turn out to be just another generic shooter?
In Prey you play as a cherokee garage mechanic named Tommy. However unlike other shooters, your character is given a voice in the game. Unfortunately in Prey, Tommy uses that voice of his a little more than I’d like. You start off in your girlfriend’s bar, which is located on a cherokee reservation. You’ll find your grandfather in the corner ranting on about how something’s “Just not right.” A few moments later, the roof of the bar explodes and your sucked into an alien mothership. I bet you didnt see that one coming did you?
When you awake you find yourself being transported throughout an alien mothership. Luckily you’re set free by a mysterious character so that you can find and save your girlfriend and grandfather. While running around this ship you’ll notice that the physics in Prey are pretty top notch. You can knock boxes over, kick around alien eggs and so on. You’ll also discover a nifty little gravity and portal system which will take you from one room to another. What makes this system so “nifty” is that you’ll often times find yourself upside down in the next room. The biggest problem with this portal system is that you’ll usually find yourself trying to find the right portal to come out of. You’ll often find alien enemies walking amongst the ceiling or the walls.
As cool as walking upside down may be, you’ll find the same murky/metalic environments that were found in Doom 3 and Quake 4. Prey’s story turns out to be very similar to Quake: Aliens try to invade earth, you’re stuck in the middle of an invasion, you have to stop it, been there done that. Another big let down found on Prey is the dialogue. The dialogue in Prey reminds me a lot of a cheap action flick filmed in Japan. What makes Prey so cinematic is the music behind the game. Prey’s excellent music was composed by Jeremy Soule. Jeremy Soule has composed music for many games including, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Guild Wars, Neverwinter Nights, and SOCOM: US Navy Seals just to name a few.
Prey’s multiplayer turns out to be Quake 4 on crack; offering close quarter, fast paced maps, but little change in gameplay. Unfortunately Prey’s Multiplayer (aka Multiprey) is only fun for about 15 minutes. I believe that hardcore gamers will find the portals and wacked out gravity to be a gimic and will stear away from Prey.
Prey offers a slight change in pace when it comes to actual gameplay, but you’ll find little to no difference in other shooters based around the Doom 3 engine when it comes to Prey’s enivornment and it’s story. Also, if you dislike persistant cursing and a lot of gore, steer far away from Prey. The portal and gravity system found in Prey seems cool at first, but later starts to become a serious annoyance.
Having played the demo twice I can honestly say that Prey won’t offer gamers much more than Quake 4 did. Prey will give gamers amazing graphics and great physics, but will also offer mediocre story and dialogue and same old environments as Quake 4 and Doom 3.
In the end, you’ll probably either love this game or hate it, but we’ll see when we finally give our full review of the game when it’s released this summer.
